Mount Anville Basketball 2018

A Long Way from September

Mr. Mannion

27-April-18

It seems like so long ago when back in September, us second years picked between basketball or hockey. The next eight months have been non-stop training every Wednesday and Saturday in preparation for the 25th of April. All the girls and coaches have been working so hard all year and we were overjoyed to win against Loreto on the Green in the quarter final (32-30) and then beat Sion Hill (23-19) to bring us to our eventful final against Loreto Abbey Dalkey. After a month of extra training, holidays and anticipation, the day finally arrived.

We left class at 2:30 and promptly got on a bus to Dalkey. We arrived at 3 o’clock and spent the next forty-five minutes warming up until the referee blew the whistle and the match commenced. We started strong with amazing scores from Áine R, which left us at 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter all our supporters arrived, and the hall was filled with blue painted faces. It was in the second quarter where Dalkey made their first comeback, scoring 14 points. We were leading 18-14 at half-time thanks to the great baskets by Anna C and Georgia Mc P.

Starting into the second half things were tense. With baskets from Áine R and Laoise C though, it was 22-16 going into the final quarter of the 2018 Junior B basketball final. Going into the last five minutes we were up by ten points after scores from Áine R and Andrea G. Dalkey’s number 48 scored three baskets making it 30-26. Twenty seconds to go and number 48 scored again leaving them only one basket behind. Mount Anville supporters and team were anxiously counting the clock when with sixteen seconds to go, Áine R was fouled and scored her free throw. A loud cry filled the hall when the final whistle was blown, and we were declared the SDBL Junior B League Winners 2018. The final score being 31-28. Áine R received the MVP award, a well-deserved trophy for her truly outstanding performance not just in this match but all year.

After the prize giving and photos, our team went to Union Café to celebrate a well-deserved victory. We are all so delighted and would like to thank Mr. Powell and Mr. P for putting in so much hard work and effort. We wouldn’t even be in a final if it wasn’t for your dedication throughout the past year. We would like to thank all the supports who came to watch our match, we really appreciate you being there. A special thanks to Waleeja N for the outstanding photos you took yesterday. To Andrea, Esme and all the other first years who have contributed to our matches, you are as much a part of our team as the rest of us and your team will definitely go far next year. Lastly, I would like to thank the rest of my team. Áine, Alice, Anna, Chloe, Clodagh, Elizabeth, Fiona, Georgia, Katy, Laoise, Lucy and Niamh. All the dedication, training sessions and time spent listening to that awful basketball playlist have paid off. It’s been great getting to know you all and I can’t wait to play with you again next year.